Actually, we didn't test for leaky gut per se. Josie was being evaluated for a couple other issues and for some of her behavior issues, yeast overgrowth was a likely cause given her diet; even though I DID try to limit sugar, some kids just overgrow the stuff more easily, and I also suspect that since I was Group B Strep + while PG and got antibiotics during labor, that that had an impact on her gut balance from birth. I also figured that I was a likely candidate since I'm a TOTAL sugar-holic!!!! It made sense for both of us to go on the diet together, for moral support and for our combined health.
It wasn't easy at first getting her to buy into the new way of eating. We actually started talking to her about it on the way home from the evaluation, how some foods might be OK for some people but for us, at least for a while, we'd have to stop eating some foods to make us healthier and happier. We went into it more through attrition than by getting rid of things: as we ran out of stuff, we just didn't replace it, like juice or soy milk, or replaced it with other stuff. She's still VERY VERY resistant to drinking plain water, but she'll drink some "lemonade" without complaint (actually, she'll INSIST on it); it's just lots of water, some lemon juice, and stevia to sweeten. She's also quite interested in nutrition labels and is always checking them to see how much sugar is in this or that, and how much protein, fat, and whatever else they choose to label on whatever packages.
We're also exploring new foods together as a family. Sea vegetables are highly recommended (yes, that's a fancy word for "seaweed"), so I got some fresh (which turned out to be too salty plain but if we cut it up and put it in an omelet, we can get away with the "green noodles" LOL) and some dried (haven't gotten around to trying them yet). Butter is OK, especially clarified butter (ghee), so we put lots of that on all the veggies (plus some olive oil, another "good fat"), with some sea salt and/or garlic powder, and she snarfs them down like there's no tomorrow. Have you ever heard a 4-year-old ASK FOR mixed vegetables for a snack? Or BREAKFAST?!?!? Happens regularly here now.
Also working in young coconuts, which is kind of another of the more unusual things on this diet, but since I've found them at a HUGE Korean grocery here for just 79 cents each, I get them 5 and 6 at a time. You can use the juice (which is kind of a pain to extract, frankly, but I kinda like the process now that I've done it once) to make a non-dairy kefir (a cultured product usually done with milk, but the young coconut juice works too); it's unusual-tasting and a little fizzy, and it gets tangier the longer you leave it, but the first batch was SO simple to make I'm looking forward to doing it again. Cultured vegetables are also recommended, and this weekend I'm going to try to make some homemade cultured cabbage - basically homemade sauerkraut, only it's not pasteurized like commercial sauerkraut but still has all the good bacteria which do the fermenting. Apparently cultured carrots are tasty too, but first things first. I did try another batch perviously but chickened out when I thought the air escaping the airtight jars was a bad thing; apparently it's not necessarily a bad thing, so I'm ready to try again!
Yes, my kitchen is much messier these days since EVERYTHING gets cooked from scratch, and also because I have grains and nuts and seeds soaking around the place half the time (they digest more easily after 8+ hours of soaking in pure water), but as we get used to making bgger batches and cutting out steps for some things it's getting easier. (To be realistic, it DID take two months to get it "easier" but it's happening, plus summer means grilling and fresh garden veggies, which is even BETTER!
Again, please feel free to PM or email me if you have any questions. There are also a bunch of us moms at
http://www.childbrain.org whose families are all on the B.E.D. and one mom shared some interesting recipes there. Did you know you can make muffins without flour? I made some yesterday with ground sunflower seeds, flax seeds, eggs, baking powder, and vanilla and cinnamon and sweetener, and I think adding some shredded carrots would have helped too (and some SALT! LOL). Not bad, though!
Cheers,
